Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-09-25
CHIPETA'S CAREER.

CHIPETA'S CAREER.
once Queen of the Utes and Now
a Hunted Squaw.
Among the squaws accompanying
Colorow in his peripatetic journeyings
about the White River country is
Chipeta, the wife Of the lamented
Ouray, the late head chief of the Ute
Nation. The career of this woman is
beyond anything yet written; even
Fenimore Cooper, in his description OF
the romance of aboriginal life, falls
far short of anything like it in his
character sketches. Following Ouray's
election to the chieftainship, the first
official act he was called upon to
consider was the advisability of re-
.moval of his tribe from the mountains
of Colorado to Utah, and in connec-
ton with proposed treaty between
the United States and the Ute Nation
he was summoned to Washington.
On his trip he was accompanied by
his wife. Both he and Chipeta
had in measure adopted the dress of
civilized life. They owned their own
ranch, their herdsfed upon their own
pasture, and in essentials lived as
white people and enjoyed the comforts
of civilized life. These facts preceded
the chief and his consort to Washing
ton, and with all the romance Of their
wild mountain life clinging about
them, added to the heritage of an
ancient and warlike lineage, they were
received with open arms by the high
social circles Of the capital city, Every
where they were feted and the doors
of the mansions at the West End
swung inward at their approach.
Chipeta was idolized. She was
clothed in silk, her raiment was the
fancy of the best Eastern dressmakers,
and the tawdry finery associated with
= life of savagery was conspicuous by
its absence. The illustrated journals
took the cue, and the wife Of Ouray
became libeled throughout the breadth
of the land by the pencils of special
artists. She was the rage for the
season she was in Washington. and
the epistolary correspondence from
attaches of the English legation to the
court journals at London referred to
her as Mountain Princess" and
bespoke for her hearty reception
from the peerage of England should
she visit that country, which she at
that time actually contemplated. As
souvenirs of her visit to Washington
Chipeta carried away with her quanti-
ties of silver plate, portion of which
was presented to her by the Govern
ment through the Interior Depart
,Enent.
~ Shortly after his visit to Washing
ton and the consummation of the
treaty Ouray died. He was sincerely
nourned by his people, and as an in
,dication OF their grief, and in con-
fprmity with long-established custom,
the horses OF the dead man were led
zip to the grave and one by one shot.
! All that was valuable in earthly exist
ence was to accompany him to the
happy hunting ground of his racial
but Chipeta; and she, too, would
probably have accompanied her liege
lord had she lived a couple of centuries
ago. As it was, the custom of her
tribe, by the greatness of her exalted
position, condemned her to life ol
perpetual widowhood. Any deviation
from this unwritten law would draw
down upon her head the maledictions
of the entire nation, and she would
become an outcast, a pariah among
her people.
But Chipeta had a will of her own.
She had tasted of the privileges which
her Caucasian sisterhood enjoyed, and
when the opportunity occurred to
marry handsome buck she did SO,
not stopping to consider the great fall
thereby in the social scale. AS might
have been expected, the head men Of
the nation, with unanimity and deci-
sion, condemned both her and her
husband to ostracism. They had both
violated sacred law of social govern
ment and they must suffer. With her
new alliance she turned her back on
civilized life in every form. Her silks
and satins were discarded. and even
her plate was melted down to make
gegaws for her husbands friends.
Her stock was taken from her and re-
verse followed reverse till she was alb
,solutely forced beyond the line of tri-
,bal kinship, and she with her husband
became a wanderer.
This doubtless was hurried by the
unfortunate mistake which she had
made in locating ranch on the new
reservation. 1t was an excellent site.
There was plenty of water and buffalo,
mesQuit and gramma grasses gave
nourishment to the stock. When the
lines were made dividing Utah from
Colorado, it was found that Chipeta's Is
ranch was on the wrong side of the
line, and not in the reservation. Il
became, therefore, legitimate plumber
for the settlers, who lost no time in
dividing the spoil.
Like the renegade of her tribe
Chipeta, in her wanderings, tended tt
the White River country. There, a
least. she would be welcomed an(
snne respect paid to her fallen great
meas. She and her husband joinet
.Colorow, and are now with him IN
yironed by the military forces which
the Governor has dispatched for th'
nrotection of the settlers OF Garfielt
county.
apnrehension is felt for Chipeta''
safety. She was in one OF the tent
which was fred by Sheriff Kendall''
,artv on their first visit to the Indiar
.camn. and she has not been seer
since II is not at all likely that she
hos heen harmed. She has been com
pelled to practically take to the
bushes.
Chipeta is growing old. She must
be in the neighborhood OF 30. Colo
row was once her enemy, as he was
the enemy Of the peace-loving Ouray
int whom her white friends turned on